India’s diverse geography & culture has been a root to it being a rich repertoire of art, crafts and handlooms. However a lot of this treasure lies in the remote villages where the artisan families have been engaged in practicing their skills meticulously with a pace that fails to keep up with the rapid urbanization. Today more than 200 crafts are endangered, and the root cause being non- availability of the right market place thus leading to extremely low opportunities. A handloom/ handicraft buyer hence is more than just a consumer; he or she plays a role in a larger movement of imbibing a sustainable lifestyle. Here are 5 ways you impact larger causes when you choose to buy a handloom or handcrafts product made in India.

#EconomicGrowth : The handloom and handicraft sector in India is extremely fragmented and in spite of unique skills many Artisans today are still presented with limited growth opportunities. It is primarily due to lack of right infrastructure to market their creations. Thankfully, more and more people are coming together to provide a marketplace and becoming a medium to take these crafts to the urban consumer like you .So when you choose a handloom or handmade made in India, you are being responsible for the economic growth of the Artisanal sector.

#SavingtheSkills : Today it is being increasingly difficult the artisans to continue to practice the rare craft they would have learned from their earlier generation. Every craft is time taking to execute as it involve complete human involvement so unless they get the right buyer who is ready to pay a price for their skill, it does not lead them to earn what they deserve. So when you choose a handcrafted product by paying its right price you are indirectly encouraging the artisans to continue to practice the craft thus saving it from entering the endangered list.

#WomenEmpowerment : While the urban women today is balancing her work and home life, the women in rural India are not far behind with their homegrown skills of sewing, embroidery ,weaving and other crafts. Today they want to do more than just taking care of their homes and families and value independence and socializing as much as their urban counterparts. They contribute to a to a considerable extent to the handloom and handicraft sectors and take immense pride in doing so. When you choose a handloom or handicraft product, you are indirectly boosting rural Women Empowerment, so look great while you do well.

#Sustainablefashion: Do you know not only does synthetic fabrics take ages to degenerate just like their cheap plastic counterparts, the process of making synthetic textiles and colorants causes massive pollution and affect the health of mother earth negatively. HandSpun Cottons, Ghicha, Jute, Khadi etc are 100% organic and sustainable which means, good for you and kind to Mother earth. Natural dyes do more good than bad to your skin and to the environment they come from so when you choose a handloom or handmade product, you are leaving a positive impact on your beloved Mother Earth.

#MadeinIndia: One love we all hold deep in our heart since we are born and that is love towards our Motherland, India. What’s the best and easiest way to wear that pride on you and you can literally wear it when you choose from the array of beautiful handlooms, each so different and peculiar that you will never run out of style with the choice. Your choice of homegrown style thus leaves a larger impact than you can imagine and put you into a role of influencer and not just a consumer. So do think of the good thing you are doing unknowingly when you are choosing your next exclusive piece of handloom or handicraft and pat yourself for doing so.

(The author of this article is co-founder of IndiTatva, an e-commerce venture which promotes Made in India products)